Category: Design hero

By All the Planets! x

What a treat the Sunday Times Home supplement had this week – and whole article on this amazing story – Club Jupiter – the tale of three talented friends pulling together to create something special over lockdown that will change the way you think of static caravans forever. So much of this spoke to my heart – taking something forgotten and breathing new life, stripping away the plastic and replacing it with everything natural and considered, three women with a special bond, three women with fantastic eyes for colour and pattern; it’s a dream made in heaven – or rather Margate, because this little beauty is now up for renting – so not only brilliant but financially brilliant as well – I doff my feathered cap you incredible girls.

For more details and to book, click here – Club Jupiter

A little slice of heaven.

Laters, Kate x

Queen Square x

 

As someone fascinated by life and society, I’m always intrigued by change and what drives it as I genuinely believe that sometimes change is wrong – that there are things that have reached their peak and can’t be improved upon and that sometimes we push growth without thinking of the long term consequences. But that doesn’t mean that all change is wrong – one only needs to look at this new collab between Ben Penreath, the creative, architect and interior designer and William Morris to see how great eyes can bring new life.

 

(All pics Pinterest and Style Library)

My joy explodeth over.

laters, Kate xxx

Design Icon x

 

Have you seen Home on Apple TV? Property porn for the discerning palate, it’s a series that steps out of the shadow of commercial bling to present homes with heart, soul and integrity. I’m only on episode 2.  But I think I’ll stay there a while, smelling the air and savouring the view, because I have a new design icon: Theaster Gates from Chicago.  The man is an onion – multi layered, multi talented, he defies description in the best possible way.

 

 

He says, ‘I am interested in not only found objects but also in discarded knowledge.’  And I think it is this heart that pulls all his work together, whether it is sculpture, pots or interiors.  He takes his subject and embraces it’s original essence, unleashing the spirit within.

 

 

But even rarer, he doesn’t hoard this spirit – most of his work is on behalf of the community making and re-making community centres, cafes, communal art studios – He touches these places with gold and passes them on. His joy is seeing the connections they make and watching the creative seeds he plants grow.

 

 

To see a building taken back to it’s bones and that skeleton, age becoming a work of art in it’s own right is a beautiful thing.

 

 

To be in a building with a printing press at one end, an library in another, a potters studio in between and a record collection nestled somewhere else is to be in heaven.

 

(All pics Pinterest)

 

This man is an inspiration in its purest form.

 

Laters, Kate x

Understand..

 

(This is a re-post while my holiday happens, which is maybe while it feels pertinent to bring it up again….)

 

Many times it’s the word on the street that carries more weight than slick advertising ever can: Modibodi, as sworn and praised to me by two very good friends and worn by their daughters, newly at secondary school and newly coming to grips with monthly meetings of Auntie Flo…

 

 

This brand designs modern, period proof underwear, with – and it takes a while to get the head around this – no need for anything other than washing at the end of the day. No leaks, no stains and no worries….

 

Amongst their many designs, they also produce swimwear – either a one piece or bikini bums.  Which quite frankly blows-my-little-mind: For a young teen this could quite literally be a game changer…

(All pics Modibodi and Pinterest)

 

Prices aren’t cheap, but then again, forking out every month isn’t either.  And you can add on the saving to the environment…it really makes these look like no brainers.

 

Time to purchase my basketful…

Laters, Kate x

Laundry Life x

 

The weather has changed. A strong wind is blowing in from the north, dropping the temperature by ten degrees plus.  As I look out of my study window there’s still enough blue to patch a Dutchman’s trousers, but the heavy grey clouds look like they could gather and coalesce at any moment.  Now half is dark, fast moving cloud, the rest blue.  The clouds are being chased away.  But there’s more behind.  Would you put your washing out today?

 

 

There’s something inescapably romantic about clothes on a washing line

like the playing cards of a family laid out for all to see.

 

 

Fresh air whipping the wet into submission.

 

 

The downside can be rust marks from wooden pegs, lack of flexibility from solid wooden pegs, and brittle plastic pegs that age and snap.  Hence the joy of these babies by Pincinox: Stainless steel, designed for life, packaged with care and vintage love.

 

(All pics Pinterest and Pincinox)

 

Made in France, but buy now and the shipping to the UK is free.

 

 

Laters, Kate x

Wild x

Instead of buying velvet, maybe I should bite the bullet and buy a van and convert it into an escape-mobile.  Or just pass over some wonga and get someone else to do it for me….Confession: the site Wildvan is my new go-to porn.  That and the ‘cabin in the wood’ equivalent.

(All pics Wildvan and Pinterest)

Freedom.  It’s a strong pull.

Laters, Kate x

90%

Buy less but buy better is a mantra that both speaks volumes and resonates with my innards.  Which is probably why the company Ninety Percent ticks so many boxes: Producing luxury basics for every day with classic, well cut pieces that are detail driven, made to last and respond to age. But even more impressive, Ninety Percent is a sustainable label, based in London that shares 90% of it’s distributed profits between charitable causes.

(All pics Ninety Percent and Pinterest)

High f****** five to a kinder, more caring fashion movement that really delivers.

Laters, Kate x

Totes amazing..

No metaphor represents the end of summer more than abandoned, once loved inflatables, lying discarded like an unwanted skins by over flowing bins, waiting to be hauled off to landfill. A couple of weeks pleasure in return for environmental chaos.  But one man’s poison is another man’s pleasure – for Georgia Wyatt-Lovell and her husband, Steve Lovell this is the perfect raw material for their bags at Wyatt and Jack.  From deckchairs in the big smoke, bouncy castles in the suburbs and lilos from the beaches, all are gathered together and given new life and new purpose.

(Particularly love this one, designed for bikers and doubles as a pannier. Genius.)

(All pics Wyatt and Jack, and Pinterest)

This is the sweet spot where design, practicality and awareness coincide.

And what a rich place that is.

Laters, Kate x

Design Hero x

 

A hero: Admired for their courage, their stance against the odds, outstanding achievements and noble qualities; victor, winner, conqueror and lion heart.

We now live in a disposable culture where things are cheaper to replace than mend.  Except there are a few companies who still regard service as part of their service…

 

Meet Dualit, a company started in the 1940s in a factory in Camberwell, London. It’s ethos is no frills, no gimmicks, no compromise and with it’s roots in commercial restaurants and hotels means you can add reliability and integrity to its list of credentials.

And the sleek retro looks with shiny chrome means aesthetics are another easy box to tick.


(All pics Dualit and Pinterest)

 

But it’s the simple, practical fact that all the parts of a Dualit toaster can be replaced that is the real clincher and thrill of this praise party: Buy once, buy well.

 

Sometimes the old ones are the best.

Laters, Kate x